Are Tequila Drinkers Killing the Environment?

In 2008, the tequila industry produced 310 million liters of tequila. For every liter of tequila distilled, 10 liters of vinazas (wastewater) is produced. In 2008, over 2.5 billion liters of vinazas is unaccounted for.

Welcome to Mexico’s next pandemic–The Vinazas Crisis.

The unconscionable pollution of rivers, streams, arroyos, and land along the Paisaje Agavero (the Agave Landscape) voted a World Heritage Site by UNESCO in 2006.

With the aide of Dr. José de Jesús Hernandez López, revered Social Anthropologist at the University of Guadalajara and expert on the tequila industry, I have authored the following e-report–

Vinazas: The Corpse of the Spirit of Mexico.

The destruction of an agave field caused by vinazas.

Because 80 percent of the tequila produced in Mexico is exported into the United States, it is vitally important for consumers to witness the environmental crimes executed primarily by the huge transnational corporations spearheading the tequila industry in its race to overproduce tequila.

Moreover, consumers should also be made aware of the possible solutions to the Vinazas Crisis and the race to save the Paisaje Agavero.

When I saw first hand the destruction that liters of vinazas can do to the noble blue agave plant and the deep red soil of Arandas, my heart sank. When I witnessed the decimation of rows of agave, the polluting of water sources, and the destruction of the environment, I could not sit idly by.

To have the stark beauty of the Highlands and the Lowlands strangled by a toxic sludge that has reached crisis levels should frighten all of us, from the casual consumer to the diehard purist.

In sharing the information in this e-report, it is my hope that next time you reach for your favorite brand of tequila at your local store that you are mindful of the decision you’re making.

Is your brand eco-friendly, or are you directly contributing to the uncontrolled watershed pollution of the Paisaje Agavero by supporting your brand’s total disregard for the environment?

It is up to the socially conscious, ecologically minded, environmentally active tequila and/or spirits consumer to up level the catch phrase “drink responsibly.”

The Vinazas Crisis deserves your attention. The time has come to not only drink responsibly, but to also think responsibly and act accordingly.